PTFA

The Arkholme PTFA works to support the school, not only by raising money, but by encouraging a collaborative and fun relationship between staff, parents, governors, the Arkholme community and, of course, the children themselves.

The aim is to involve as many people as possible, and in a fun way. One of our main purposes is to raise funds for equipment or travel to events, but another is to enhance the children’s enjoyment and experience of the school such as by funding the Christmas Disco, Christmas Crackers for Christmas Dinner and ice lollies for Sports Day!

Everyone is a member of the PTFA already, just by having a child at the school – it’s not a special club! And we welcome your involvement. We can always use fresh input, ideas and suggestions. You may not have spare time but you may work somewhere that could support a raffle prize or utilise a staff discount etc. Come along to any of our meetings or speak to one of the committee at school or an event. Or just keep attending all of the events that you can and buying the tea, cakes and raffle tickets! We love any type of help you can offer. Past events we have planned are listed below but we always welcome new ideas.

PTFA funds are spent on “extras” that the school budget doesn’t stretch to, items from the ‘wishlist’ that staff and pupils would like to have, or improving areas within the school environment.

Over the last couple of years the fund raising has saved up an amazing £4000 to help fund the creation of the new school library, which should be complete by the end of February. So, you will be able to see the results of all the fundraising events that you have taken part in very soon.

The other main area we fund is travel costs. The PTFA pays for travel so that the school can attend special trips or events, such as the Westmorland County Show or the Christmas pantomime etc. It is important that being a rural school does not limit the experiences that the children can enjoy.

In the year 2016/17 the PTFA spent just over £2300 on travel costs which was almost the full amount raised in the year after expenses.

We are looking at ways of bringing these costs down without impacting on the events the children attend, such as paying for two teachers to complete a mini bus driver’s certificate at a cost of £240. But it remains a large part of our spending.

This year we have already purchased a couple of items on the staff and pupil ‘wishlist’. We have bought four digital cameras, one for each class, and we have also purchased a set of Beebots, which are programmable robots designed to help with counting, sequencing and problem solving as part of the curriculum. These items came to £630 in total – almost the total made by the Christmas Fair after expenses.

So you can see that all the money raised gets ploughed straight back into the school for the benefit of everyone.

And coming up we have Film Nights, more 150 Anniversary celebrations and of course the June Fair.

If you can think of any ways that you might be able to help out then please grab one of us for a chat, come to the next meeting or check out our Facebook page that is updated regularly.

Please contact us on our Facebook page with any further enquiries. The PTFA welcome any new members.

A simple and convenient way of raising funds for our school while shopping online. You simply need to:

1. Log on to: https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/
2. Search for Arkholme C of E Primary School in the ‘Search for a Cause’ box.
3. Join easyfundraising; this just takes a few minutes.
4. Shop online at the retailers below and many more.
5. Collect donations as a proportion of your purchases to be Giftaided to Arkholme School.